Saving Her
by dont.hold.back.the.wind
Summary: A strong scent met his nose through the thick rain: human blood. Looking up through his eyelashes that had raindrops stuck to them, he saw something. Someone. He moved closer and saw a young girl on the ground. SET DURING NEW MOON! R&R! NOT EdwardxOC!
1. Bloody Rain

**_okay, so this is my first fanfiction. My idea for this story is to start off when Edward is away from Bella in New Moon and then continue from there. I have this story close to finished, but I want to know if YOU guys think I should continue. So please, review, anything you want, hate, love, flames, whatever, they're all welcome. I'm a big girl, I can handle it :-P. Thanks!_**

Chapter One

_Bloody Rain_

The rain was beating down heavier now. He pushed his wet bronze hair out of his eyes before shoving his hands back into his pockets. He was in Oregon now. He couldn't remember how he had gotten there, and strained to remember the name of the hotel he was currently staying at. He wasn't even sure where he was now. In some forest.

Forests seemed to be a great interest to him recently. Every state, every country he roamed in, he found himself walking through a forest. Just walking. He didn't want to admit that it reminded him of her.

But it did. He remembered every detail of the memories he had with her, running through the thick of the forest and into their meadow. Their meadow. He needed to stop calling it that. Any word indicating a relationship, a connection, between him and Bella needed to be avoided. Thinking about them being together only bruised his dead heart.

Suddenly, a strong scent met his nose through the thick rain: human blood. Looking up through his eyelashes that had raindrops stuck to them, he saw something. Someone. He moved faster towards the lump on the ground and noticed a girl lying on the floor of the forest, her tiny figure trying to curl up into a ball as the rain soaked through her skin. An immediate vision of Bella's wet body lying helpless in the leaves when he left her flashed in his mind. He pushed it away and ran over to the girl and kneeled down next to her.

He knew she was bleeding badly from the intensity of the smell. Blood seeped from her wrists and a pool of her blood was soaking into the dirt underneath her. It was easier to control himself since the blood didn't smell as wonderful as Bella's, but the immensity still made him quiver a bit. He squatted next to her and pushed her brown hair away from her face, noticing how extremely young she looked, no more than fifteen years old. He stared down at cuts on her face and watched her eyelids flutter and her face scrunch up in pain.

"Don't hurt me," she mumbled, keeping her eyes squeezed shut.

"What happened to you?" Edward asked her, raising his voice so that it could be heard over the pounding of the rain.

"Don't let him..." she mumbled again, her voice trailing off. Edward gave up trying to talk to her and focused his attention on her thoughts. He saw her being thrown against a wall by a man. She clawed at his skin and he pushed her down, dragging her down the stairs by her hair. Edward grew angrier as he watched her scream in pain and dragged to a small room that resembled a kitchen by her hair, and watched the man retrieve a knife from a drawer.

Suddenly, the visions vanished. Stunned, he looked back at her and saw the color draining from her face. She was dying, he knew it. Thoughts swirled through his head as he stared at her helplessly, and thought about Carlisle and what he would do.

"Can you hear me?" he asked.

_Yes, _he heard in her mind. She was too weak to speak, and saw her struggle to form words.

"Stay with me, keep talking in your head, I can hear you," Edward said again.

_How? _Edward heard from the girl. Her eyes opened for a few seconds to look at him, but closed again.

"Who did this to you?" he asked, ignoring her question.

_Uncle, _he heard, _my uncle, he..._

Edward waited for her to continue, growing impatient, "He what?" he asked her. But she didn't tell him. She showed him. The images made his hand clench into a tight fist until his knuckles turned white.

_How come you can hear me? _she asked.

"You don't have enough time for me to explain it right now, but..." he hesitated before continuing, knowing what he was doing was possibly crazy, but he couldn't just let her die, "What would you say if I knew how to save you?" he asked.

_I don't get it, _the girl thought in her head.

Edward sighed and pushed his damp hair out of his eyes again, "Would you rather die or live forever," he asked.

_What kind of question is that? _she asked.

"Just answer the question, you're losing too much blood, and I don't know how much time you have left," he said.

She was silent for a while, and if it weren't for her strained breathing, he would have thought she was dead.

_Live forever _she said finally, _But how?_

Edward ran a hand through his hair and saw her struggling and whimper, her skin almost white now. It was taking an enormous amount of self control to not just bend down and lick every drop of blood off her. He looked at her, and thought of Carlisle, and of his family.

_How?! _she demanded in her head.

Edward opened his eyes and looked at her dying body again before continuing, "Okay, I'm going to tell you something you may not understand or believe right away, but please, just stay with me..."

_**review please! -dont.hold.back.the.wind**_


	2. And He's Home

Chapter Two:

_And He's Home_

Maybe he should have called first, he didn't know. He wasn't even sure if he should be doing this, but it was the first thing that came to his mind once he heard her shrill scream pierce through the sound of the pouring rain once he bit her. He now had a changing girl withering in pain in the backseat of his car as he sped to his family. He was thankful that her screaming had stopped, her throat becoming hoarse from her cries after a while. Now she only released small, agonized whimpers as she thrashed around.

He wasn't sure how Carlisle would take it. He didn't ask whether or not changing the girl would be best, or if was a good time to add another member to the Cullen family. But none of those thoughts occurred to him at the time of his decision. The only thought that was in his head was that he could not let her die like that.

He had been driving for a little over a day, thankful that Alice had recently given him their new address, thankful it wasn't too far away. He glanced back at the young girl, and saw her clawing at the leather interior of the car in pain, the seat ripping under her nails, and he wondered just how much longer her agony would last. He hoped it wouldn't kill her.

--

Time is a strange thing. He wasn't sure exactly how long it had taken to get to his family, and didn't even remember the times the sun set and rose. It couldn't have been too long since the girl was still squirming and trashing in pain, a shrill scream sometimes escaping her lips. After following a narrow route surrounded by trees, he came across a beautiful Victorian house with a fence of trees along the wide perimeter. He parked his car and went outside, realizing it was night because of the black that illuminated his vision. He pushed his seat up further to reach the girl in the back, sliding his arms under her thrashing body and easily lifting her. She was still a little damp from the rain, leaves stuck in her hair and her wrists still caked in blood. Her eyes were squeezed tight and her head kept moving from side to side as she bit her lip in pain.

Edward knew that Emmett was surprised to see him when he answered the door. He was probably even more surprised that his brother was holding a girl who looked semi-unconscious and looked as if she had been in a car crash.

"Edward?" Emmett said loud enough so that the Cullens immediately started coming to the front room. Emmett stepped aside so that his brother could walk in, which he gladly did without speaking.

"Edward! What are you doing here and what is _that_?!" Alice exclaimed, gesturing to the body in his arms.

"Where's Carlisle?" Edward answered, looking at his siblings urgently.

"Here," came a voice. Edward looked up to see Carlisle entering the room and quickly move over to his son. "Who is she?" Carlisle said as Edward gently laid the girl on the floor.

"I don't know," Edward said, "I don't even know her name, but I couldn't just leave her there, you have to understand that. I couldn't leave her there to die."

"Slow down and explain," Carlisle said calmly but sternly.

Edward took a deep breath and didn't even notice Rosalie and Esme enter the room, "She was on the forest floor, just lying there in the rain. She had lost so much blood and she was dying, and once I knew what happened to her I couldn't just do nothing," he said. His family became worried at the way he was rambling nervously, none of them except Carlisle understanding what happened.

"Edward," Carlisle said slowly, "did you change her?"

"I had to," Edward said exasperatedly, "I asked her though, I told her what I could do and what she would be and she agreed, she knows everything that's going on," he said, more so trying to convince himself that she was fine than his family.

"You _changed _her, Edward?!" Alice said, her mouth slightly open.

"Edward, what about her family?" Carlisle said, still staring at his son.

"Dead. For a while. She lived with her uncle. He was crazy. She was raped and abused, left to die in the forest," Edward said, turning his head up to look at Rosalie. Her beautiful face had turned to stone, and though her face wasn't angry, it was almost scary to look at her, "I thought of Rose and couldn't leave her," he whispered, still staring at his sister.

He was sure that if vampires could cry, tears would be rolling down Rosalie's pale face, "How old?" she said in a low, quavering voice.

"I'm guessing fifteen," Carlisle answered for Edward.

Rosalie closed her eyes and she seemed to be in pain, "Please excuse me," she said before briskly leaving the room. Emmett watched his wife leave the room and looked back at his family, his face strained.

"I should..." he started, staring at the way Rosalie left.

"Don't," Esme said softly, placing a hand on her son's shoulder, "Let her be for a while, then go to her."

Emmett nodded and ran a hand across his head, "Didn't know you knew how to change people, Ed," he said, trying to ease the obvious tension in the room.

"I didn't really," Edward said, "I started...learning...when I was with Bella..." he said, staring down at his hands.

"Jasper," Alice hissed after an uncomfortable silence, "do something."

"Oh," Jasper said, as if he had forgotten about his abilities, "Sorry." Immediately, the tension in the room lifted, but concern for the girl still hung loosely in the air.

"How long ago did you find her?" Carlisle asked.

"I-I don't know...two days?" Edward said, trying to remember.

Carlisle nodded, "We should get her off the floor," he said.

"I'll bring her to my room," Edward offered. Without waiting for a response, he slid his arms under the girl and lifted her up, the action followed by a piercing scream that escaped her lips.

Edward winced, "Is there anything I can do for her?" he asked, feeling guilty for causing her pain.

Carlisle smiled apologetically at his son, "No. All we can do is wait." Edward nodded and quickly went up to his room. He didn't react when Alice had told him that Esme fixed a room for him, hoping he would come back, but when he saw that it would set up exactly like it had been in Forks, guilt washed over him. He pushed it aside as he gently laid the twitching girl on his gold satin sheets. He smoothed her dark hair back, and was surprised at the almost finished transformation. Her skin was turning paler and her body started to form perfect curves. Her bruises were starting to fade and cuts starting to close up. It was the tears still stained to her cheeks that made her look human.

He was too distracted to notice his sister come in without a sound. "She's so skinny," Rosalie whispered, "Did he feed her at all?"

Edward shrugged, "I don't know," he said, "She was skinnier when I found her. The change seems to be making her a healthy size."

There was a pause before Rosalie continued, "Do you know for sure that she was..." No matter how strong and confident she was, she was struggling with the awful word that always made her feel weak.

"Raped, yes," he said softly. He threaded his fingers through the girl's, not even wincing when she dug her nails deep into his skin.

Rosalie shuddered, "She's too young," she said, softly dragging an elegant finger across the girl's cut cheek. He looked up at his sister and saw the obvious pain written across her face.

"Rose..." he said softly, gently placing his free hand on her shoulder.

But she didn't respond to him. "Where is he?" she asked him.

He looked at her, confused, "Who?" he asked.

"Her uncle, where is he?" she asked. He bit his lip as he looked at his sister and heard her pleas for him to be dead inside her head.

"I don't know," he answered finally. "Probably at his home."

Rosalie pulled away from Edward and spun around so that she wasn't facing him, "I'm going to kill him," she said angrily.

Edward sighed and dropped the hand that used to be on his sister's shoulder. "Rose..." he said.

"I'm going to drive knives across his skin, throw him through the walls, make him feel every ounce of pain she had to!" she yelled angrily, punching his wall and making the plaster crack and dent.

"Rose!" he said surprised, letting go of the girl's hand and standing up.

"You don't rape little girls!" she screamed, punching his wall again, making another hole, "You don't fucking rape little girls!" Rosalie was in a frenzy now, punching the walls and throwing things across the room.

"Stop it! Rosalie, stop!" Edward said, rushing over to his sister. He grabbed her and wrestled her to the ground, trying to stop her from wrecking the room completely.

"Dammit, Edward!" she wailed. She put her head on his shoulder and stopped moving, "Why did he do it?" she said, her voice cracking.

Edward wasn't sure if she was talking about the girl's uncle or her former fiancee, but it didn't matter.

"I don't know, Rose," he said, soothingly running his hand through her hair over and over again, "I don't know."

The door creaked open and Edward looked up to see Emmett in the doorway, obviously having heard Rosalie's rage.

_Is she okay? _Emmett asked, concern written on his face.

"She will be. I got it from here," Edward assured his brother in a whisper. Emmett looked at his wife with a stricken look on his face, but Rosalie didn't look up at him. She just wrapped her arms around Edward's neck and buried her face in his shoulder, trying to calm down. Emmett sighed and finally left, slowly closing the door behind him.

After a while, Rosalie was able to calm herself, and she lifted her head off of Edward's shoulder, pulling away from him. "Sorry," she said, embarrassed at herself.

Edward let go of her, "Don't be," he said, tucking a strand of her blonde hair behind her ear.

"I acted like a child," Rosalie said, scolding herself.

"I understand," Edward assured her.

She ran a hand through her blonde waves and sighed, "I can accept what happened to me. I know that I was foolish, flighty, and incredibly shallow. I understand that. But for her, for someone so young, so innocent," Rosalie closed her eyes and shuddered, "I just...I can't..." she said, trying to find words to explain herself.

"I get it," Edward said in understanding. He stood up and extended his hand to her sister. Still on the floor, she closed her hands and vigorously rubbed her face with her hands, as if she was trying to rub the rest of her meltdown away. She then opened her eyes and accepted his hand, immediately being lifted to her feet. Wordlessly, she walked back over to the bed where the girl was still whimpering and yelping. Rosalie ran the palm of her hand over the girl's exposed forehand, and then down over her cheek.

"So young..." she murmured in a voice so low that Edward almost didn't hear her.

"You should go to Emmett," Edward said finally, his brother's thoughts pulsing through his head annoyingly, "He's just about mental worrying about you."

Rosalie leaned her head down and lightly kissed the girl's forehead before turning to face her brother. "Okay," she said, offering him a small smile. Edward patted her back before she left, silently slipping out of the door and to her husband.

Edward turned around and kneeled down next to the bed so that his elbows were resting on the mattress. The girl was putting on more weight now, making her look less like a skeleton. He couldn't wait to get her out of her ripped, blood stained clothes and have her wash the caked blood off her body, because it made him angry just looking at her.

"Can you hear me?" he asked her, taking her hand in his. He wasn't sure to what degree she was conscious and functioning, vaguely remembering that he was able to make out some things that Carlisle had said when he was changing.

_Hate...Pain...Fire... _Her eyes were squeezed shut and her face was scrunched up in pain.

"I know," he said apologetically, rubbing the back of her hand with his thumb, "It'll be over soon," he assured her, "And then you'll be a-"

_Vampire? _she said, cutting him off.

"Uh...yeah," he said, being caught off guard by her bluntness, "So you believe me?"

Her words and thoughts were hard to see, since pain regularly flashed through her brain, _Don't...know...I..._

"It's okay," Edward said, feeling guilty for her pain, "I get it. We'll explain later."

Her thoughts were hard to sort through, and she had difficulty putting her thoughts together, _We? _she asked.

"Yeah," Edward said with a small smile, "My family...your family..."

**_just to assure u all, Edward WILL NOT fall in love with the girl. I'm an EdwardxBella ship, so don't attack me. please review! -dont.hold.back.the.wind._**


	3. Welcome Home

_thanks for all the lovely reviews. oh, and **BELLA IS NOT HERE BECAUSE THIS IS SET IN THE MIDDLE OF NEW MOON! BUT SHE WILL COME IN LATER! **hope u like this one!_

Chapter Three

_Welcome Home_

It was still night when her eyes fluttered open. Edward was still kneeled down next to the bed, his fingers still laced through hers and his head on the bed. He didn't even notice that her moaning and squirming had stopped until she croaked out his name.

"E-E-Edward?" she said hoarsly, some pain still tingling through her body.

Edward picked his head up and looked at her. "Yeah," he said, surprised that she had remembered his name.

She stared at the ceiling for a bit, and then looked around the room, her face expressionless. "Where am-?" but as soon as she started to speak, she gasped and slapped her free hand over her mouth.

Edward tilted his head to the side and looked at her, confused, "What's wrong?" he asked.

She shook her head and removed her hand, "I," she started, still searching for words, "My voice...it's...weird," she said finally.

"Weird?" Edward asked, a bit amused.

"_Different,_" she corrected herself, "It's different."

Edward nodded, "Well, I suppose it would be," he said, "You look different too."

She looked down at herself, trying to see the difference, but it was hard to tell with her tattered, bloodied clothes hanging on her body.

Right on cue, Alice came dancing into the room with a bundle in her arms, "Hey, guys," she said cheerily, trying too hard to sound natural, "Here's some clothes for you, honey," she said, handing the girl the bundle.

"Thanks," the girl said shyly, slipping her hand out of Edward's and taking the clothes. Everyone was silent, and the girl kept staring at Alice a little warily.

"Oh!" Alice said suddenly, "Oh wow, so sorry for being rude," she apologized, "I'm Alice, Edward's sister," she said, holding out her hand, "Your sister too, well, if you decide to stay here, that is."

The girl took Alice's hand lightly, "I'm Aurora," she said in a small voice, forcing a tiny smile.

"Aurora," Alice said with a smile, "That's so pretty."

Aurora shrugged, "I guess," she said, "I mostly go by Rorie though."

"Well," Alice said too animatedly, "Then we'll call you Rorie."

"And, um, what to you mean by if I decide to stay here?" Rorie asked.

"Well we can't _force _you to stay," Alice said as if it was simple logic, "But we would like you to."

"Who is this "we" you guys are talking about?" Rorie asked.

"The family," Alice said, "You can go meet them right now, if you like."

"Okay," Rorie said, "But I think I'd like to change first."

"Oh, of course!" Alice said with a laugh, "I'm sorry, I'm always getting ahead of myself." She turned to look at her brother, the annoying smile still plastered on her face, "Come on, Edward. Let's give Rorie some privacy," she said, grabbing his arm and quickly dragging him out of the room.

"Alice, nails," Edward complained, ripping his arm out of her death grip.

"Why isn't she freaked out?!" Alice demanded of him, her smile gone. Her hands were on her hips and her eyes were glaring at him.

"I don't know, maybe she really did understand everything I explained to her," he said.

"It doesn't matter! When someone opens their eyes and they're a vampire, they should have some reaction," Alice said, as if it were Edward's fault.

"Don't yell at me," Edward said, his hands pointing to himself, "You're acting as if this is a bad thing. Do you want her to be even more scared than she already is?"

She sighed and her eyes relaxed. She buried her face in her hands, pausing before she continued, "I know," she said, dropping her hands, "I'm just trying my hardest to stay calm. Her comfortability about the situation is just making me uneasy, and..." she trailed off, looking away from Edward.

"And what, Alice?" he asked.

"It's just I-" she stopped for a moment, her face screwed up in concentration. She sighed in an annoyed tone and looked back at him, "She's too calm, Edward, and I don't see her being very thirsty, not thirsty at all, actually," she said.

Now it was Edward's turn to be concerned, "Why not?" Edward said, "Aren't all newborns generally very thirsty?"

"Yeah," she agreed, "But for some reason, I'm not seeing her getting thirsty at all. I'm trying to look farther and farther, but it's all the same," she said.

Edward didn't have a chance to respond before they both heard a creak come from behind them. They looked back and saw Rorie hesitantly enter the hallway.

"Rorie!" Alice squeaked, immediately perking up, "Oh, you look so cute in my clothes! It will be so much fun to have a sister to share clothes with now, since Rosalie's too tall," Alice rambled.

Rorie tilted her head to the side, "Rosalie?" she asked.

Alice kept smiling and nodded her head, "Yeah, she's our sister," she said, "I think you two will get along really well," Alice said.

Rorie nodded, "How many...um..._siblings _do you guys have," she asked, searching for the right word to call out makeshift family.

"Six, including you," Edward said before Alice had a chance to answer, "We can go meet them right now if you'd like," he added.

She nodded her head, and Edward and Alice began to make their way down the stairs. Edward watched as Rorie looked around the house, her eyes wide as she took in the various beauties, and she smiled when she saw the gigantic cross hanging on the wall.

"Myth, huh?" she said, gesturing to the crucifix.

Edward smiled weakly, "Yeah," he said before they entered the front room. The rest of the Cullens had been waiting patiently since Edward came home with Rorie, but Rosalie looked especially nervous, her hands tangled together and her foot tapping. She was the first one to notice them enter. Immediately, she sat up and quickly made her way over to them, heading straight for Rorie.

"How are you feeling?" Rosalie asked with a concerned look on her face.

"Um..." Rorie said warily, flinching as Rosalie's cold hand came in contact with her cheek, "okay I guess."

Rosalie bit her lip as she searched the girl's face, making everyone else in the room extremely uncomfortable.

_Edward, why is she looking at me like I'm dying? _Rorie said in her head.

A grin tugged on Edward's lips, "Well, technically you already are dead," he said.

Rorie smirked, "Yeah, still not really clear on how that works," she said.

"Don't worry, we'll answer all your questions," Carlisle said.

Rorie snapped her head to the side and looked at Carlisle, bewildered. She glanced around at the other Cullens, Rosalie's strange reaction making her forget everyone else's presence for a moment.

Carlisle smiled warmly at her, "I'm Carlisle Cullen," he said, holding out his hand towards her. Rosalie had dropped her hand from Rorie's face, but was still standing close to her.

Rorie tried to return the smile, but it came out forced and broken, "Aurora," she said, taking his hand lightly, "But Rorie's fine."

Carlisle smiled and let go of Rorie's hand. Esme immediately was at her husband's side, extending her hand to Rorie, "I'm Esme," she said, "It's so nice to meet you, dear." Rorie shook Esme's hand, and looked surprised when Esme pulled her into a quick hug, making Rorie immediately tense.

But Esme didn't seem to notice. She pulled away from the girl and held onto her shoulders for a brief second, smiling at her face.

As soon as Esme stepped away from Rorie, Jasper had appeared. "Jasper," he said, shaking Rorie's hand, "Alice's husband."

Rosalie didn't give Emmett time to introduce himself, and instead grabbed his arm and dragged him over to the stunned looking girl, "Rorie, this is my husband, Emmett," she said.

"Thanks, Rose," Emmett said sarcastically, rolling his eyes. He shrugged Rosalie off him and smiled at Rorie, "Emmett," he said with a wave, "as my wife so kindly already explained."

"Emmett," Rosalie warned. Emmett rolled his eyes again and then winked at the girl, making her smile.

"Now Rorie, you don't have to stay here and follow our rules," Carlisle started, "But we'd be more than happy to make you a part of our family," he said with a smile.

Rorie wrung her hands together nervously and looked around at all of them. Edward wrapped an arm around her shoulders, feeling a strong sense to protect her overcome him all of the sudden.

"Really, it's very nice of you," Rorie sarted, "But I..." she seemed to be struggling for the right words, and continued to look at them nervously. She looked up at Edward for help, but all he did was smile and gave her a small squeeze of encouragement.

She took a deep, unneeded breath and began again, "It's just that I come with a lot of..._baggage,_ and I hate to make you guys deal with it," she said finally.

"Honey," Alice said with a laugh, "We _all _came with crazy pasts and stories," she said, "And you can trust us to tell us yours," she said, recieving a warning look from Edward, "when you're ready, of course," she added quickly.

"And if you need someone to talk to, I'm here," Rosalie said, "My story's a bit like yours," she said with a sad smile.

Rorie gave her the same sad smile and relaxed, resting her head against Edward. Reading her thoughts, Edward smiled and gave her another squeeze, "Welcome home, Rorie."

_review!_

_-dont.hold.back.the.wind_


	4. Guilt and Burdens

_**thank you all for the wonderful reviews for chapter three! i appreciate them all!**_

_**to caww:you're absolutely right about Rosalie, and what i was going for. yeah, it's not jealousy, but she is trying ridiculously hard to make Rorie feel comfortable, and Rose knows that Emmett can be...er...intimidating to people, and wants Rorie to feel safe. And the whole Edward treating her like a new daughter thing...wow, you totally read my mind, lol. yeah, i feel like Edward would feel some responsibility for Rorie since he was the one who changed her, and that's why Rorie already trusts him so much. **_

_**anyway, i hope that you all like this chapter! enjoy!**_

Chapter Four

_Guilt and Burdens_

Rorie had silently listened as Carlisle gave her a quick overview of their lives, telling her the rules of which they lived by, adding extra emphasis on their vegetarianism. She nodded at times that seemed appropriate, but Edward noticed that her thoughts were more consumed on showering the blood and dirt off of her body than what to do in a compromising situation.

"Rorie, why don't you take a shower and we can explain more when you get out," Edward said in response to her thoughts, moving his arm from his protective grip around her to place it lightly on the small of her back, urging her to go. She gratefully accepted and Alice shooed her out of the front room, showing the girl the way to the bathroom.

Everyone was silent for a moment. Edward pushed his messy hair out of his eyes and then shoved his hands in his pockets, subtly rocking back onto his heels. To everyone's surprise, the first to speak was Jasper.

"Why the hell doesn't she have a blood thirst?" he said in an annoyed voice. They all looked at him, surprised, and his face looked almost angry. "She's not even feeling the slightest bit of a blood lust," he said coolly, the icy look still in his gold eyes.

"I don't know," Edward said finally, "Alice saw it too, and she said that she doesn't see her having a thirst for a while," he said.

"Well," Carlisle said calmly, "that's strange."

"Strange?!" Jasper bellowed, throwing his arms out, "It's not normal! She should be ravenous by now! What the hell is wrong with her?"

"Jasper, please," Alice said, entering the room again, "She'll hear you."

"I don't give a damn, Alice," he seethed through his teeth, "There's something wrong with her, Alice, she should know."

"There's nothing wrong with her!" Alice shot back, defending the girl, "If anything it's a good thing. Do you know how great it would be for her if she didn't have to overcome a continuous blood lust?"

"Well isn't she lucky then," Jasper spat back.

"Why are you being so awful?" Alice asked, angry now, "Stop being so immature!"

"I'm not being awful, Alice," he said, "I just don't understand how I could spend so many years trying to control myself, and this girl comes along and she's completely fine. I don't understand how that's fair," he said in a low voice. No one spoke through this whole fight, and no one dared to speak now as Alice and Jasper's eyes were locked with each other's, glaring. He didn't speak as he ripped his gaze from hers and left the house, and no one followed him. Alice spun around with an angry look on her face, but it was still pained.

"By the way," she said looking at Edward, her voice icy, "It's nice of you to finally come home. We were a mess without you." She was gone before anyone had any time to answer.

* * *

Rorie was looking at herself in the mirror of the huge bathroom. It was shocking looking at herself for a number of reasons. She knew that she looked very different, even under her bloodied hair and dirty face. She noticed light purple shadows under her eyes, and wondered why it didn't look unattractive. Her hair was the same; brown, shoulder length, parted down the middle, and hanging limply on either side of her head. It was the only part of her that didn't look beautiful.

Which she still didn't understand. The boy, Edward, never told her that she would look different. Or sound different for that matter. Her voice was an eerie sound, but there was something about it that was almost...enchanting. Not beautiful, not scary, but eerie and enchanting. Mysterious, almost.

And her looks. She didn't understand why she looked the way she did. She had already sheepishly given herself a wide smile, checking for fangs, and almost blushing when she found none, feeling silly. She remembered some stories her father used to read to her about vampires, and all the myths have been rudely crushed in a matter of minutes once she was in this house.

Voices floated up from the front room. Angry voices, fighting. Fighting about her. Rorie sighed and reached for the gold knob in the shower, and water immediately poured out from the shower head, drowning out the voices. She wouldn't stay long, she told herself. Just until she fully understood herself, understood what was going on and how to take care of herself. Then she would be gone and leave this family alone. She didn't want to be a burden, but she knew that by staying, that's all she'd ever be.

She slipped off the clothes that the small girl with the spiky hair, Alice, had given her. Alice was beautiful and seemed to be really nice, and had a very bubbly personality when she was talking to Rorie and showing her around.

Too bad her smile was fake. She tried, though, and Rorie appreciated that.

But that Rosalie girl. She didn't put on an act at all. Rorie couldn't even remember her smiling when she was staring at Rorie intently. Rosalie made her feel a bit uneasy, and seemed to worry about Rorie more than she should.

_My story's a bit like yours,_ Rorie remembered her saying. She didn't know that Edward had told them all what happened to her, but she knew that they didn't know the full story. She smiled sadly at herself; they didn't know the half of it. But it was nice that she would have at least one person that somewhat understood.

Rorie stepped into the shower, and hot water immediately drenched her body, relaxing her muscles instantly. _I haven't had a hot shower in God knows how long, _Rorie thought to herself, letting out a small sigh. She closed her eyes as she worked the apple scented shampoo through her hair, not noticing the blood that had been dried on her body and hair run down her back and swirl into the drain.

* * *

"So," Emmett said, breaking the silence that had blanketed the living room once Alice and Jasper had left, "It took a dying teenage girl who had been raped by her uncle to bring you home, huh?" Edward offered a crooked smile, feeling awful at how hard Emmett was trying to lighten the tension, but failing miserably.

Esme walked over to Edward in three strides and wrapped her arms around him in a tight hug. Edward was startled at first, but then relaxed and hugged her back just as tightly. Her hair was under his chin, and he could smell the scent of her flowery shampoo that he always loved.

"It is so wonderful to have you back," she said, still not letting him go.

A pang of guilt hit him, and he sighed, "I'm so sorry, Mom," he said, knowing how much she loved it when he called her that, "I never meant to hurt any of you."

Immediately, Esme pulled away from her son, but she kept a firm hold on his shoulders with her hands. She looked him directly in the eyes, and he could feel her stare burning through him making him feel even more guilty.

"Please don't leave again," she said in a soft voice. It broke his heart. He hugged her again, and closed his eyes.

"Never again," he told her, and then he looked around at his family. He saw Carlisle's smile, but it was still pained, not believing Edward completely. He looked at Rosalie who was staring down at her hands, and then at Emmett who looked tired and exhausted, his usual happiness and energy drained from him, "I promise."

_**please tell me what you think in a review! anything is welcome! and im sorry if this chapter was boring, but i think that i just needed this chapter in order to get where i really want to be in my story. sorry if that doesnt make any sense...but the next chapter will be better, and we'll start to slowly learn more about Rorie, since shes not the most open person. thanks!**_

_**-dont.hold.back.the.wind**_


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